Boston College blew a fourth-quarter lead in a loss to Georgia Tech in its season opener in Ireland. In the Eagles’ finale, they showed they had learned how to hold on for a victory.

Patrick Towles threw two touchdown passes and caught a pass for a score in the first half, helping Boston College beat Maryland 36-30 in the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday at Detroit.

The Eagles (7-6) led by 16 at halftime, 23 points early in the third quarter and then had to force Maryland to turn the ball over on downs late in the game to seal their first bowl victory since beating Michigan State at the 2007 Champs Sports Bowl.

“We started to really develop a resolve that you see in the players’ eyes,” Boston College coach Steve Addazio said. “The most critical thing in building your program is having that. And, I really believe we have finally set that platform forward and that’s the most exciting thing to me of all.”

Maryland (6-7) had the ball at its 35 with 1:48 left with a chance to drive for a go-ahead TD.

“That’s all you can ask for,” Maryland coach DJ Durkin said. “You’ll take that in any game.”

But the Terrapins didn’t gain a yard before Harold Landry helped finish them off with a possession-ending sack.

Maryland made some big plays on offense, but four turnovers, eight sacks allowed, 11 penalties and poor field position proved to be costly. In the first half, Perry Hills threw an interception, lost a fumble and was sacked four times. On the Terrapins’ first snap of the second half, Hills handed off to Ty Johnson and the running back’s fumble was recovered in the end zone by Boston College.

With 4:02 left, the Terrapins got to the Boston College 1 with a chance to cut into their nine-point deficit and Hills lost a fumble after bobbling a snap. They got the ball back less than a minute later when Boston College’s Jon Hilliman fumbled at his 6, and were forced to settle for a field goal.

“The program is headed in the right direction, but we have to learn to not beat ourselves,” Durkin said.

BIG PLAYS

Johnson had 62- and 30-yard TD runs in the first half and a 29-yard run early in the fourth quarter that gave Maryland the ball in Eagles territory, but it turned the ball over on downs at the 41.

“He’s consistently been a big-play guy for us all year,” Durkin said.

Hills threw a 63-yard TD pass to Teldrick Morgan and a 52-yard pass to Levern Jacobs for a score to get Maryland within nine points.

Landry was the only player in the game on The Associated Press All-America team, earning second-team honors, and showed why he merited the recognition. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound junior entered with 15 sacks, tying with Florida State’s DeMarcus Walker for the most in the nation, and had 1 1/2 sacks against Maryland. Landry also had a one-handed interception and deflected passes on consecutive plays on Maryland’s drive late in the fourth quarter that ended with a fumble.

Addazio said he and Landry have talked about his upcoming decision, to stay for his senior season or to enter the NFL draft, and will discuss the topic again soon after gathering information.

“My thing is, you do what’s best for the players,” Addazio said. “If it’s best for a player to leave, you advise him that.”

MISSING FOR MARYLAND

The Terrapins were without their leading tackler, linebacker Shane Cockerille, who was ruled ineligible. Durkin and school officials declined to provide details.

TAKEAWAY

Maryland: Durkin, a first-year head coach, has built a career on defense and special teams. The Terrapins struggled on defense against a previously offensively challenged team, giving him plenty to work on in the offseason.

Boston College: The Eagles were impressive on offense in the first half, scoring 29 points and gaining 238 yards, with a creative mix of plays through the air and on the ground before appearing to relax and regress.

N.C. State 41, Vanderbilt 17 >> Jaylen Samuels caught three touchdown passes from Ryan Finley, Nyheim Hines returned a kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown and North Carolina State won the Independence Bowl at Shreveport, Louisiana.

North Carolina State (7-6) won three of its final four games to finish with a winning record. The Wolfpack built a 28-3 lead by midway through the third quarter largely thanks to Samuels’ touchdown catches of 9, 55 and 17 yards and then held off a brief Vanderbilt rally.

Samuels’ three touchdown catches were an Independence Bowl record. Finley, who completed 19 of 30 passes for 235 yards, hit Samuels six times for 104 yards.

“Just give him the ball in as many ways possible,” Finley said.

North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren said Samuels’ big night wasn’t necessarily planned, but when Vanderbilt loaded the defense to stop the run, he was the man who was open.

“We were just taking what they were giving us,” Doeren said. “And then our receivers did a great job of blocking for him.”

Vanderbilt (6-7) had a lot of momentum going into the game thanks to surprising wins over Mississippi and Tennessee to end the regular season. But the Commodores’ offense which scored a combined 83 points against the Rebels and Volunteers struggled for most of the night.

“We looked a little rusty,” Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said. “All the way around special teams, offense and defense. We just didn’t look like the Vanderbilt team that came out of the regular season.”

Vanderbilt’s Kyle Shurmur completed just 19 of 46 passes for 158 yards and three interceptions.

“There’s a fine line between being aggressive and careless,” Shurmur said. “And I crossed it a few times.”

Even so, the Commodores briefly made things interesting, closing to 28-17 early in the fourth quarter. But that’s when Hines responded his big kickoff return to put the game out of reach.

THE TAKEAWAY

Vanderbilt: The Commodores’ offense took a step backward after some late-season improvement. Veteran running back Ralph Webb had another nice game with 111 yards rushing and a touchdown, but Shurmur’s struggles throwing the ball were too much to overcome.

NC State: The Wolfpack end a frustrating season with an impressive win. They were fantastic on defense for most of the night and the Finley-to-Samuels connection couldn’t be stopped by Vanderbilt.

Mississippi State 17, Miami (Ohio) 16 >> Mississippi State’s sideline erupted in celebration, relieved to escape with a victory to end a challenging season.

Nick Fitzgerald rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns in another strong performance by the dual-threat quarterback; however, the heavily favored Bulldogs had to block a field goal in the closing seconds to hold off Miami (Ohio) in the St. Petersburg Bowl on Monday at St. Petersburg, Florida.

“Great game. Not exactly how we drew it up,” coach Dan Mullen said after defensive tackle Nelson Adams got a hand on Nick Dowd’s potential game-winning kick that would have helped Miami finish a stunning turnaround from a 0-6 start to the season to a winning record.

Instead, both the Bulldogs (6-7) and the RedHawks (6-7), who won six straight games to become bowl eligible , finished with losing marks.

“You know what, it’s been an interesting year. We’ve battled. Throughout the year we’ve lost some tough games on the final play of the game,” Mullen said. “I told the guys in the locker room afterward, we’re here because we didn’t give up. We found a way to go make that final play. Even though we missed a lot of opportunities, we made the final play when it mattered.”

Fitzgerald, who led the Southeastern Conference in total offense, scored on runs of 2 and 44 yards on the way to his eighth 100-yard rushing performance of the season. The redshirt sophomore also completed 13 of 26 passes for 126 yards.

Gus Ragland threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns for Miami. He also threw his first interception of the season early in the fourth quarter, and Mississippi State turned the mistake into a 36-yard field goal that put the Bulldogs ahead with 12:03 remaining.

“We were one play ahead of them for most of the game, if not more than one, but they were one play ahead of us at the end,” Miami coach Chuck Martin said. “We had opportunities. When you look at it, it didn’t need to come down to that last kick, but it did. They made one more play than us. Tough way to end. That’s sports, and that’s competition.”